Clear Skies Virtual Event Producers

ON24 2010 Webcasting Report

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:45:10 +0000

If you want to find out some great benchmarks and best practices for webcasts, check out ON24 2010 Webcasting Report. The results are from evaluating 10,000 demand generation webcasts from 700 corporate clients. To peek your intereset here are the key findings:

52% of all registrations occur in the ten days before a scheduled webcast, with 15% registering on the day of the webcast.
Given average registrant-to-attendee conversion ratios, 33% attended during the live webcast, while an additional 25% viewed the archived webcast.
Webcasting is an effective and popular way to reach audiences year-round, including during holiday and summer months.
The average viewership per webcast is 38 minutes

Clear Skies makes debut at Virtual Edge Summit 2011

admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:08:24 +0000

Webinars and Webcasting: The Best Bang for your Virtual Event Buck.

DESCRIPTION: While some define a virtual event as a full-scale virtual trade show, Webcasts can often be the best solution for organizations looking to educate and communicate with members and customers, boost lead generation, increase sponsorship ROI and clearly define themselves within a marketplace. This session will help you assess your needs and determine if a Webcasting strategy is what you really need. Discussion points will include streaming technologies and two-way communication components, platform selection and much more.

PRESENTERS:

Aaron Cole – Co-founder and Director of Business Development, Clear Skies Virtual Event Producers

John Nainschigg -
CEO, World2Worlds,Inc.

We jump right in with Aaron discussing the benefits of Webinars and the platforms available to produce them….

What’s happening to Live Meeting? Answer: Lync

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:29:18 +0000

So – if you haven’t heard by now – Microsoft has announced it’s new UC solution. Many people are suggesting this is just a renaming of it’s existing OCS offering. One thing that is changing for the better is ease of entry into online meetings. Live Meeting is a web-conferencing platform with a client you need to download.

Now, with Lync, an attendee can still download a light app or the web app but it will use silverlight (similar to flash, but has some distinct benefits.*

And don’t worry Clear Skies is still here to manage your bigger events on Lync.

The link to the original article below can be found at the end.

Preparing your System for a Lync Web App Meeting

So you received your first invite to attend a meeting hosted on Lync 2010 and you do not have Lync client installed on your machine? Not to worry, as Lync 2010 meetings support the Lync Web App browser client that allows you to attend meetings from any supported browser on Windows or Mac without installing a client.

To successfully attend this meeting and have an optimal experience, ensure the following on the system from which you plan to join the meeting using Lync Web App:

1. You need to be on a supported browser and platform combination
2. You need to have Microsoft Silverlight 4.0 (or later) installed
3. Disable pop-up blockers in your browser

Disabling pop-up blockers is not a mandatory requirement, if pop-ups are enabled, it ensures that your meeting window opens in a new browser window and resizes automatically to fit the meeting content.

To make it easier for you to check if your system meets all of the above, we’re created an online guide that checks your system and determines if you have all of the programs you’ll need for a successful Lync meeting. To run the meeting readiness check, open your online meeting invitation and click on the “First online meeting?” link at the end of the invitation as show below.

In the web page that opens up click on “meeting readiness” and complete all the steps that are requested till your see a message “Congratulations! You are ready to join meetings …”

If you plan to share your desktop or application in the meeting, you need to ensure that additional components are installed. These options are available only to those who hold a Lync account and can sign in as authenticated users in Lync Web App on Windows. The simplest way to install the required plug-ins for sharing desktop or application is to actually attempt to join the meeting by clicking on the meeting link and attempt to share by clicking on “Program” within “Share”. At this point, you will be prompted to install or update the screen sharing plug-in if not installed already.

With a little bit of preparedness, you can easily join meetings from any supported browser or platform and enjoy a great meeting experience.

Dhanasekaran Raju
Program Manager
Published Friday, November 12, 2010 4:07 PM here.

*Although dated this link compares flash vs. silverlight and therefore no more mac issues and need to “cache” the content.

New Virtual Events Survey Findings

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:28:42 +0000

This survey is great (see below of this). After reading it, it just reinforces why we are in business folks…. and why we want to help you in successfully producing world-class virtual events and webinars. The survey also mentions the benefit of what we call a “combo” event, where there is a live event that is also being virtually demonstrated via a web-conferencing platform. This set-up is far more cost-effective than a live video-broadcast or webcast. It is a great way of getting the most attendance to your event.

The article can be found here. Thanks for UMB Studios for putting this together.

New Adobe Connect 8 – The new update rocks

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:40:09 +0000

I’m sure you have heard by now (it was announced last week) about the new Adobe Connect 8. I wanted to post an article URL about using Adobe Connect regarding classroom training. It sure is above the rest when it comes to ease of interactivity.

Some of the new features include:

Enhanced chat, including separate tabs for private and group discussions and customizable elements, such as color and text size;

New formatting capabilities for notes, as well as support for exporting to RTF;

Improved whiteboarding with new custom shapes and support for using the whiteboard as an overlay on documents;

Integration with existing SIP-compliant videoconferencing systems, including those from Tandberg;

Mobile support for Android- and iOS-based devices; and

Improved security with enhanced access control (and additional controls over desktop and application sharing) and password-protected rooms, among other new security features.

Europe’s #1 Web-conferencing Platform – Netviewer

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:42:26 +0000

Clear Skies is always looking to use the best platforms. The following is article is about Netviewer – specifically Netviewer Meet (up to 100 connections). Netviewer also has a console, Netviewer Present, that can be used for a couple thousand connections. If you need help moderating your larger events, please reach out to us – that’s what we do.

Original article posted here: http://www.conferencingnews.com/news/30889

Best Web Conference Solution: Gold Award for Netviewer
toptenreviews.com Carries out Extensive Test of Leading Providers

Following a wide-ranging test comparing products from different providers, Netviewer Meet 6.0 was presented with the Gold Award for the best web conference solution by toptenreviews.com. On its website, TopTenREVIEWS, headquartered in Ogden, Utah, features in-depth technology tests and product comparisons in more than 350 categories. Recently it undertook a comparison of twelve products marketed by the world’s foremost web conference providers. The only product which received the highest rating (“Excellent”) for all criteria and which therefore came out top in the comparison was Netviewer Meet. TopTenREVIEWS’s verdict: “We ranked this product #1 because it is the only service that we felt deserved a perfect score for ease of use”. Netviewer Meet emerged from this test ahead of web conferencing products offered by Adobe, Microsoft, Cisco WebEx and Citrix.

Netviewer is Europe’s leading producer and provider of web collaboration solutions, offering visual real-time communications by means of user-friendly web conferences – ad hoc and without any technical impediments. Netviewer Meet is already available to business clients in software-as-a-service form for a monthly fee of €29.90 (USD 39,90). Netviewer is free for private or non-commercial usage.

http://web-conferencing-services.toptenreviews.com

http://www.netviewer.com

Web conferencing on the go courtesy of Cisco WebEx

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:43:55 +0000

By CXOtoday Staff, Jun 04, 2010 1012 hrs
http://www.conferencingnews.com/news/30786

WebEx has launched web conferencing service on smart phones, enabling users to join Cisco WebEx Meeting Center web and audio conferences on smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm from RIM, the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia Eseries and Nseries, and the Samsung Blackjack II.

Users will be able to launch Cisco WebEx Meeting Center through the browser on their smartphones to receive integrated audio and web conferencing over 3G or a combination of 2G and Wi-Fi. In addition, users will be able to attend a scheduled meeting and to view presentations, applications and desktops with live annotations. This offering is planned to be available on several smartphone operating systems including BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. There is no cost to attend these meetings, but to schedule and host a meeting from a computer requires a host account on Cisco WebEx Meeting Center.

ON24 steps into a new realm of “Social Webcasting”

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:06:11 +0000

One of the platforms our clients use, ON24, unveils it’s new platform offering:

ON24 Webcast Center next-generation social webcasting

ON24’s open, next-generation webcasting application delivers social webcasting capabilities and enhanced interactivity. It enables our customers to create completely custom experiences for their audiences and to integrate applications developed by third-party developers. Combining advanced virtual event technology with a highly reliable and scalable platform for webcasting, ON24 delivers immersive, measurable solutions to more effectively engage audiences.

ON24 Webcast Center provides the necessary tools to build and deliver live and on-demand webcasts, with detailed reporting and analysis. Extend your reach by delivering webcasts to users on all platforms—your audience can access your content directly through the web, with no need for dial-in numbers or conference calls. The ON24 Webcast Center platform is offered in a SaaS model, enabling you to access the tools from any browser. The ON24 cloud webcasting platform remains the industry’s most reliable and secure solution for all your webcasting needs.

ON24 social webcasting features and benefits

•Powerful social media capabilities
•Highly customizable
•Reliable platform
•Enhanced communication and interaction with your audience
•Advanced measurement and performance tools
•New group chat feature to drive interactivity between presenters and attendees

Brand yourself through customized social webcasting
ON24 Webcast Center provides extensive customization of your virtual events. From branded audience consoles to custom registration pages and HTML emails, your events are designed to your specification and to strengthen your brand.

Social media engage your audience
Social media are critically important to online marketing and communications initiatives. By opening the Webcast Center platform to third-party components, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Social webcasting capabilities include Twitter, group chat, moderated Q&A and sharing tools.

Live video webcasts, on-demand training and podcasts
ON24 supports multiple platforms and media formats and a wide range of virtual events you can use to reach your audience. Live webcasts are automatically archived and can be leveraged as on-demand events, delivered to users as podcasts, or used as powerful rich media advertising content in your web and email marketing campaigns.

Performance-based engagement
ON24 leads the industry in reporting capabilities to help you measure the success of your events and capture the best leads. Easily track ROI of your lead campaigns, measure the effectiveness of your content and analyze the engagement level of your audience.

Presenters–take control
ON24’s unique Presentation Manager interface makes it easy to manage a successful event alone or in a geographically dispersed team. The streamlined interface runs in any browser, enables control to be shared among presenters, and allows you to dazzle your audience with video, audio, slides, Flash media, demos and web tours. You and your team can easily manage live Q&A, push polls and surveys to your audience and gather statistics in real time.

To read the press release click here.
To see it in action, check out ON24′s demo.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro Mobile

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:39:57 +0000

We knew it was coming and didn’t know who would be first to develop it – the webinar app is here! Check it out. Way to go Adobe.

Copied from Adobe’s blog: See orginal post

By Steve Adler on February 25, 2010 8:03 AM

The Acrobat Family just got a little bigger today with the announcement of a new mobile version of the popular communication tool; Acrobat Connect Pro.

Many schools and universities already use Connect Pro for online meetings and virtual classrooms to bring eLearning to any desktop. With the release of the new mobile version, users of the iPhone and iPod touch now have access to their virtual classroom from anywhere.

Mobile users will be able to view presentations, PDF documents, videos, and screen sharing provided by the meeting organizer. They can rotate, pan, and zoom to choose the ‘best view’ of shared content. In addition users can:

Attend Connect Pro Meetings with integrated conference call or Voice over IP audio.
If your meeting host is using integrated conferencing, you can let the meeting call you, and avoid entering cumbersome dialing codes.
See who has joined the meeting, and their role (host, presenter, or attendee)
View web camera broadcasts from unlimited live camera feeds provided in the meeting
Participate in chat conversations throughout the meeting.
Join meetings attended by users on virtually any computer system: Mac, Windows, Linux, and Solaris. Plus other mobile attendees on iPhone and iPod touch.

This is a great way to communicate and collaborate with students and colleagues. All that is needed is a meeting room address. Below are some snapshots of the Connect Pro Interface..

First previewed at MAX 2009, Connect Pro Mobile version 1.0 is now available for FREE on iTunes. Just go to http://itunes.com/apps/AdobeAcrobatConnectProMobile to download it now.

Connect Pro Mobile was built using a pre-release of the next version of Adobe Flash Pro and was published as a native iPhone application. This is first publicly available Adobe-authored application that uses the Packager for iPhone technology. Because Connect Pro Mobile was created using Flash, Adobe will also be able to use the same code to deliver this application on other mobile devices when AIR for mobile devices becomes available. We anticipate iPad users will be able to take advantage of Connect Pro Mobile as well. For more information on iPad applications with Flash, go to http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/2010/01/building_ipad_apps.html

To learn more about this application, please view the Connect Pro Mobile overview video.

Connect Pro Mobile lets you join meetings run by anyone with an Acrobat Connect Pro account. If you want to try hosting meetings for others to join on their iPhone or iPod touch, sign up for a FREE 30 DAY TRIAL here: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/trial/

Communication through Webinars yield Big Business Results

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:01:27 +0000

I just read this article in the Conferencing News today – it’s posted here. I took the liberty to title the post a little differently than the title of the article (call me biased). As we move into 2010, it’s good to remind ourselves why Clear Skies got into this business. We, as a company, believe in partnering with you as a company, a group, an author, a product spokesperson, a trainer, a teacher, even a political activist, to facilitate the use of web-conferencing technology as a tool which is a more efficient and, maybe sometimes, even more effective voice in communicating your message than in-person or on paper. It is certainly more cost-effective than an in-person conference.I also want to highlight that although “software-as-a-service” or “SAS” seems to be one of the buzz words around new technology platforms –> software will never replace service. And, in our opinion, should never be an “add-on” to software. We are the only company (that we know of) that offers Online Event Management as a core service. We think it’s about communication, rather than what platform you use to do communicate. Therefore, it’s communication that can yield big business results. The content is your focus, let us handle the “through webinars” part, that’s our focus. A partnership for success in 2010. Happy New Year.

I have tested the links and they link back to previous articles on the subject matter.

Communication on web can yield big biz results
Web collaborative technologies drive efficiency and add value to productivity of businesses

Kiran Datar Tuesday, December 29, 2009

BANGALORE, INDIA: Virtual collaboration and online meeting technologies are advancing the small and medium service based companies’ reach without huge investments, thus allowing them to not only save costs and land more sales but to better educate consumers and business partners and serve a greater number of people lost by former logistical barriers.

In turn, this knowledge transfer is allowing such companies to gain greater mindshare and reach new markets through numerous, innovative applications for traditional web-based knowledge transfer technology.

Such programs include web conferencing, video conferencing, media streaming and web casting — all designed to allow companies to work together in real-time or archive presentations for on-demand retrieval, be it a polished sales presentation, in-house training or thought leadership seminar.

Some companies are going so far as to use these tools for IT troubleshooting, particularly by allowing remote access to ailing PCs and laptops in the field.

Accelerating Business and Increasing Sales

The service based companies’ have definitely jumped hard and heavy into these tools. Though larger organizations may view online collaboration tools primarily to improve internal communications, this segment is leveraging its investments to pump up a normally small sales force and provide training so product pitches can be perfected.

Such operational streamlining helps a company run more efficiently and at web-based speed. Sales teams now can take clients through a hands-on demonstration without either leaving the office. Not only does knowledge transfer vastly cut travel costs, but it also accelerates business and provides more promise in reaching busy executives who can view demos from their office desk, rather than a meeting room or off-site location.

Service based companies usually measure themselves closely through productivity or efficiency units. So if they can conduct 10 sales demos in a day instead of one or two, they’ve made their money.

The current trend across various business segments seems to be of adopting web-based conferencing in order to expand the reach of their messaging. The financial industry, often an early adopter of emerging technologies, also is a big believer in the power of these communications services. For example, a small mutual fund firm that needs to get the word out to their clients, and they need to get people with as much impact as possible. These tools can help firms like this to a great extent.

Consider daily tasks that can be aided or enhanced using the online collaboration services. For example, companies have discovered that their IT staff can troubleshoot and remotely fix computer problems in the field by opening an online meeting session. Such remote access could prove the deal-sealer if done just prior to an important presentation.

Collaboration: The Next Phase in Business Productivity

There is no question that web collaborative technologies drive efficiency. While the value proposition is widely recognized, measuring the real impact of the technology on information worker productivity and ultimately the impact on profitability remains a key challenge.

The challenge lies not in the benefits, but in the way they have been measured. Using a structured methodology to evaluate “hard” as well as “soft” returns from the investment in web collaboration enables organizations to quantify the impact that the solution will have on productivity. This ensures that any cost-benefit technology analysis accurately reflects not just travel cost savings but also the impact on employee productivity.